Police arrest car theft suspect in Simi

An arrest has been made related to a recovered stolen car.

On July 20, Alvaro Pirir, who resides in Winnetka, reported his car stolen to the Los Angeles Police Department. The vehicle, a 2005 Toyota Corolla, was equipped with the Lojack Vehicle Recovery System.

At about 8:20 p.m., Simi Valley police Officer James Quiles was on patrol in Simi Valley in a marked police car equipped with a Lojack receiver. When Quiles received a Lojack activation, he advised police dispatch and began a grid search for the stolen car.

With the assistance of a Lojack employee, the stolen vehicle was found at the northwest parking lot of First and Easy streets. Police depertment Special Enforcement Section officers conducted an undercover surveillance of the parked stolen car from marked police units strategically hidden nearby.

During the surveillance, two females left a nearby laundromat, entered the vehicle and drove north on First Street. Sgt. Robert Arabian, in a marked police vehicle, followed the stolen vehicle and stopped it in the area of Cochran Street and Chandler Avenue. Both the driver and the passenger left the car and surrendered to police without incident.

Driver Priscilla Galella, 24, of Simi Valley was booked on suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle, illegal possession of a smoking pipe, a $10,000 misdemeanor warrant for hit and run, and was cited as an unlicensed driver.

The passenger was released, as her possible involvement in the car theft could not be established.